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I don't think we know why he has it. Like you say some dogs are known to have a severe head impact or whiplash type injury which causes the condition, but we cannot think of anything that happened to Blue like this, he is with us 24/7. I think given the severity of his scan results & the fact that he has coped so well, it kind of suggests that it has been developing slowly for some time, and his nervous system has compensated. He had a bad fall which led to the scan being done, but the concensus is that the SM caused the fall, and he was exhibiting scratching & yelping symptoms about a month before the fall.
I halved his frusemide from Wednesday night as suggested by Mr S, but by last night I could see he wasn't quite as bright, he was certainly wobbling again & was catching his right paw. Interestingly his left paw is the bad one, so i can assume that the damage to the nerves supplying his left paw is over & done with. When he deteriorates its his good right leg that starts to weaken, which makes gait real difficult, so the nerves must be ok as long as the pressure is kept down. I put him back on the full tablet last night & his balance has improved, and he seems a bit brighter.
Obviously without the tablets he wouldn't be here now, and its such a fine line between him being happy & the SM becoming a problem. Its a horrid condition, you seem to have a happy spell where you can almost forget there is a problem, then something crops up and bashes you over the head!

Just to say I am glad your visit to Chestergate went well. It makes you feel so much better when you talk to someone like Mr Skerritt and they are trying to answer your questions. Love the photo of Blue on the beach, he is a beautiful boy. He looks like he is having fun.

Its a horrid condition, you seem to have a happy spell where you can almost forget there is a problem, then something crops up and bashes you over the head!

Thatís how I feel. 2 out of my three Cavaliers have CM/SM. My other dog friends are very supportive but nobody knows what it is really like. At the moment everything is fine, my Harley has stopped limping for nearly 2 month now and he is his bright playful usual self and he isnít on any pain relief only on Zitac. But itís like sitting on a time bomb. I wish I could put it to the back of my mind but I canít. I let them run and enjoy life because thatís what dogs should do and I just deal with it when something else happens. But like you said you are just always ready for something else to bash you over the head.

Thatís how I feel. 2 out of my three Cavaliers have CM/SM. My other dog friends are very supportive but nobody knows what it is really like. At the moment everything is fine, my Harley has stopped limping for nearly 2 month now and he is his bright playful usual self and he isnít on any pain relief only on Zitac. But itís like sitting on a time bomb. I wish I could put it to the back of my mind but I canít. I let them run and enjoy life because thatís what dogs should do and I just deal with it when something else happens. But like you said you are just always ready for something else to bash you over the head.

I agree, I'm sure some friends see videos of Blue bouncing round or see him in the flesh, and think i am being a drama queen. My close friend who has Blues brother has been fab, and she has seen him on bad days as well as good. There are people who think I should have him PTS outright....nice people eh?....but they havent said it to my face, cos I would flip.

He is enjoying his life bless him, and like you say its always at the back of my mind too. But on the other hand I am incredibly proud of him and its made us closer.

But on the other hand I am incredibly proud of him and its made us closer.

That's exactly how I feel about Riley. She is my heart dog, the one I didn't expect to live this long so every day I get with her is a gift. I just look at her and my heart melts. I guess it's partly because I'm aware that there will come a day that her medication will stop working or the side effects of the prednisone will become too much for her and we'll have to stop the only drug that works for her. But until then, she is loving life, she is happy, and I am loving her.

Blues having an off day today, i have just given him an extra gabapentin as the vet said i could do, so we are on three a day now, the trouble is that I am fully aware that he is going to deteriorate at some point, he has done staggeringly well to get this far, and each time he goes off his feet its like a punch to the stomach, as i think "well this could be it". And some of you guys have two or more dogs with the same condition...my heart really goes out to you, you are all so brave.

Blues having an off day today, i have just given him an extra gabapentin as the vet said i could do, so we are on three a day now, the trouble is that I am fully aware that he is going to deteriorate at some point, he has done staggeringly well to get this far, and each time he goes off his feet its like a punch to the stomach, as i think "well this could be it". And some of you guys have two or more dogs with the same condition...my heart really goes out to you, you are all so brave.

Oh I really hope so, he seems bright in himself but his neck is very twisted tonight and his balance is off, we have a pet service at our church this weekend, where people bring their dogs, cats, rats, rabbits etc for a blessing, I hope he is well enough to go, but I am making some doggy garlic and liver treats so he is scrounging in the kitchen at the moment!

Blue's of day could have something to do with the fact that air pressure has been pretty high in the UK today - round the 1020mb level. It's forecast to drop quite a lot over the next few days, so you may find that Blue perks up again. Air pressure does seem to affect dogs with SM.

We had a pet service at my church on St Francis day, 4 October, which is our church dedication. Oliver went along in his Pets as Therapy jacket and I was 'interviewed' about him and my rescue Cavalier Aled instead of having a sermon. Hope you manage to get Blue to yours.

Blue's of day could have something to do with the fact that air pressure has been pretty high in the UK today - round the 1020mb level. It's forecast to drop quite a lot over the next few days, so you may find that Blue perks up again. Air pressure does seem to affect dogs with SM.

We had a pet service at my church on St Francis day, 4 October, which is our church dedication. Oliver went along in his Pets as Therapy jacket and I was 'interviewed' about him and my rescue Cavalier Aled instead of having a sermon. Hope you manage to get Blue to yours.